Welcome to Brandenburg Labs

Shaping the future of audio technology

At Brandenburg Labs, we strive to create cutting-edge audio technology that is inspired by how we listen to the world. We make immersive audio for headphones as intuitive as real life, enabling everyone to dive deep into any soundscape.

Therefore, we have developed the perfect lifelike audio experience over headphones. Our technology simulates how sound propagates in the real world, making it indistinguishable from reality. 

Together with our partners, we are working towards achieving a perfect auditory illusion, especially via headphones.

Our company relies on a substantial network and extensive knowledge in the fields of basic and applied research, also based on the expertise of our founder, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Karlheinz Brandenburg, best known as co-inventor of mp3.

As a spin-off company of the Technische Universität Ilmenau and the Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Media Technology, Brandenburg Labs can draw on many years of research in the audio field at these institutions.

Learn more

Where to meet us next

We are continuously updating our event schedule here, more events for 2024 soon to be announced.

We’re excited to share that Brandenburg Labs will be attending DAS/DAGA 2025 – the 51st Annual Meeting on Acoustics, happening from March 17–20, 2025, in Copenhagen, Denmark!This marks the first joint annual meeting of the German and Danish Acoustical Societies (DEGA and DAS), offering a unique platform to delve into cutting-edge developments in acoustics and connect with professionals from across the industry.

Our CEO, Karlhienz Brandenburg, will present a paper titled “First experiment on how to blend playback recording rooms in headphone based reproduction of multichannel sound.” on Wednesday, March 19th in room 5. If you’re attending DAGA 2025 and wish to connect with us, feel free to reach out via .

We look forward to an inspiring and innovative conference. See you in Copenhagen!  

Testimonials

"For four years now, we have been working intensively on the idea of transferring an immersive mix for loudspeakers into a binaural headphone format. The Brandenburg Labs system is the first to deliver truly convincing results.​"
Rainer Maillard​
Rainer Maillard​CEO, sound engineer & producer at Emil Berliner Studios. Worldwide supervision of music production ​
"After trying Brandenburg Labs' new spatially-aware headphone tracking demo for virtual acoustics, I can say that: It's the real deal, folks. Easy to imagine major VR gaming platforms wanting to offer this capability.​"
Scott Hawley​
Scott Hawley​Professor at Belmont University Teaching audio engineers (acoustics & electronics)​
"It’s the first time that I was fully convinced that the sound moved around me on all sides - especially above/below and in front/behind have been difficult to distinguish in the past, but this team did it.​"
Albert Bozesan​
Albert Bozesan​Bestselling Writer (Audible #2), AI and Storytelling Consultant​
"Brandenburg Labs' immersive technology for audio is really exciting. I was very impressed by the demo. It's exciting to see how this technology will develop. I am looking forward to new immersive listening experiences. My tip: Try it out and test it!​"
Jochen Fasco​
Jochen Fasco​Media Expert
"Having worked on room acoustics for years, I can say that this system is unlike anything I have experienced before. It surprised me and made me question my own ears. I highly recommend it, as it won me over within minutes. It works!​"
Christian Hoppe ​
Christian Hoppe ​CEO at Hoppe-Akustik​
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Press Coverage

“During the demonstration in Las Vegas, the headphones depicted two speakers, which were actually standing in the room. The effect was amazing: whether a piece was played over the speakers or through the headphones was practically indistinguishable.” (directly translated from German)
Heise Online
"The co-inventor of MP3 and his team impressively demonstrate how you can create the perfect three-dimensional auditory illusion with headphones." (directly translated from German)
NTV
“This technology from Brandenburg Labs is a big step forward. It’s making sound more realistic and immersive, pushing the boundaries of what we thought headphones could do.”
SoundGuys
“It is the perfect acoustic simulation of movement in the natural environment. So far, there was no such thing.” (directly translated from German)
Welt
“Brandenburg handed me a pair of wired headphones adorned by a Vive Tracker on top. I put them on, and he switched the audio from the five-channel speakers to the headphones — lo and behold, there was no difference. What Brandenburg’s team proved with the demo is that you can improve on the spatial experience by augmenting it with positional data from a VR headset.”
Tom's Guide
"This is the perfect sound. [...] After MP3 Karlheinz Brandenburg reinvents hearing in a room." (directly translated from German)
BILD
"But I was most impressed when I started to walk around; not only did the acoustic picture remain in place; I also could sense the subtle changes in sound due to the imaginary room geometry. In a traditional speaker setup, if you walk around the room, the tonal balance and timbre change when you move for instance past a wall or into a wider open area. I didn’t know the geometry of the particular room I was listening to, but the changes were there, and I had the distinct feeling of walking around in a real room."
audioXpress
"Sound not on the ear, but in the room." (directly translated from German)
Stereo
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Our partners

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Our networks

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Current joint projects co-funded by